Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: AU. While walking home from a party one night, Yami sees someone being arrested for drunk driving and learns a good lesson in life. Rated Kplus for safety.


**Hey there! :) Here's a new AU Yu-Gi-Oh oneshot that I cooked up one day. I looked up the phrase "drink driving", which is also called "DWI" (Driving While Intoxicated) and "DUI" (Driving Under the Influence) and is a very serious problem even today. It was then while watching these PSAs for drunk driving on YouTube that I got to thinking... **

**What if Yami Yugi was at a party where there was alcohol, but chose to drink soda instead of beer, and then saw someone being arrested for drunk driving while he was walking home from the party? **

**Well, this is what I came up with. Hope you like it! :) **

**Disclaimer: Genius Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh. I own the fanfics I cook up from time to time.**

* * *

><p><span>Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk<span>

_I can make anybody pretty  
>I can make you believe any lie<br>I can make you pick a fight  
>With somebody twice your size<em>

_I been known to cause a few break ups_  
><em>I been known to cause a few births<em>  
><em>I can make you new friends<em>  
><em>Or get you fired from work<em>

_{Chorus 1}_  
><em>And since the day I left Milwaukee,<em>  
><em>Lynchburg, Bordeaux, France<em>  
><em>Been making the bars lots of big money<em>  
><em>And helping white people dance<em>  
><em>I got you in trouble in high school<em>  
><em>But college, now that was a ball<em>  
><em>You had some of the best times<em>  
><em>You'll never remember with me<em>  
><em>Alcohol<em>  
><em>Alcohol<em>  
>~Brad Paisley, <strong>Alcohol<strong>

It was a Friday night in July, and it was summer in San Francisco, California. The party at the big mansion-style house was in full swing. Most of the kids there mingled, drank sodas, and danced to the music. In the midst of everything, Yami picked up a Coca-Cola from the table and took a sip. He had felt thirsty after dancing to a few songs with his friends Duke Devlin, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner and Yugi Moto. Compared to the beer, the Coca-Cola tasted much better in his view.

Plus, like the character of Sodapop Curtis in the book and the 1983 film The Outsiders (which he had seen and discussed with Joey, Duke, Tristan, Tea and Yugi one time), Yami never touched a drop of alcohol. He didn't need to; he would get drunk on, as one of the guys put it one day, "just plain living life to the fullest", which they had taken a liking to.

"Hey, Yami, you want a beer?" said a pale-skinned teen with black hair that was similar to Duke's, but different. Yami had heard about him, but never saw him before. He walked – well, actually staggered while simultaneously swaying unsteadily on his feet – up to Yami and held up the beer can. Yami frowned. His crimson eyes narrowed as he observed the teen; the teen's eyes looked all bloodshot and glassy – almost as if someone had pulled some Saran Wrap over them. Worse yet, the teen's breath smelled as if he had been drinking beer for 15 minutes – or maybe it was more than that. However, that was enough to convince Yami that the teen was drunk.

"No thanks," said Yami. "I don't like alcohol. Besides, I prefer to drink soda. It tastes much better anyway."

Before the teen could think up a reply to what Yami had said (witty or not), Yami turned on his heel and, his black bootlike shoes tapping the wooden floor, walked over to Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan, who were standing in a group over by the punch table. Besides plenty of soda on the table, there were recycling bins for the cans and bottles next to the table.

Yami was real big on putting empty cans into recycling bins; after all, he preferred to be safe, use his head and make good decisions rather than make a mistake he would regret later on. And whenever he noticed someone else following his example, he would catch their eye and give them an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. This often made them feel good all over.

"Yami, way to go, my man," said Joey, giving Yami a thumbs-up and a smile, which Yami returned.

"Thanks, Joey," he replied. A trio of football players, who had also viewed the scene between Yami and the drunk teen (who, they later informed Yami, was a bully that nobody liked and who they sensed would end up in trouble someday), also turned to Yami and smiled.

"Way to go, Yami," said one.

"Yeah. You did the smart thing by saying no to an offer of beer the way you did," remarked the second.

"Exactly," said a third. "You set a good example right there. And you used your head, too. Good for you."

Yami grinned. "Thanks, you guys," he said as Joey, Tristan and Tea nodded in agreement.

"After all," said Tea, her azure eyes shining with happiness, "making the right decision is a good thing, too."

Two hours later, at 11:00 PM, the party ended, the music stopped and the guests were leaving. Some had chosen to follow Yami's example, as they were sober, having preferred to play it safe and drink soda. Others, Yami noticed, were staggeringly drunk and not able to walk in a straight line.

A smile on his normally serious visage, Yami walked down the sidewalk, his eyes perfectly capable of seeing in the dark (almost like a vampire's). So far he had refused a ride home with some people that he didn't know very well and sensed had been drinking (which they had).

"No thanks," he told them when they drunkenly offered him a ride. "Besides, I prefer to walk home. And it's good exercise for me, among other things."

Luckily, Yami didn't mind the walk home. It gave him plenty of time to think. Plus, he could let his thoughts flow freely and easily.

It was then that Yami perked up his ears while walking, and the Millennium Symbol appeared on his forehead. Then the air was filled with the sirens belonging to police cars.

"...driving drunk..."

This phrase was one that Yami knew, having read about it and resolving to never do something like that. For a moment, he feared it was Duke who had been driving while drunk, until the next phrase told him that assuredly he had nothing to worry about.

"...black-haired teen with blue eyes..."

So the driver they caught was a teen with raven locks and azure eyes. A relieved smile appeared on Yami's face as he then walked quickly and then began sprinting up the sidewalk to the accident scene. He soon stopped when he was three feet away.

The car was totaled as it had smashed into a tree. Then Yami remembered why the driver looked familiar; it was the same teen he had refused an offer of beer from at the party. Only now he looked almost all banged-up. His eyes were closed, and there was a trickle of blood running from his left temple down his cheek. An officer had given him a field sobriety test, which he failed; Yami knew because apparently the teen couldn't walk very well. The officer then gave him a breathalyzer test, which the teen also failed. The results from the breathalyzer showed that the teen was charged with DUI, and he was led away in handcuffs and put into the back of a police car.

Yami then shook his head. _That poor guy, _he thought. _Well, that's what happens when you drive after drinking alcohol. It's a bad decision, the price is very heavy and loved ones are sometimes lost. I'm glad I chose to drink soda, as soda tastes so much better than alcohol any day. _

Yami blinked himself out of his thoughts and then continued on his trek home.

When he got to the Game Shop, Yugi, Joey, Duke, Tristan and Tea were already there, having gotten a lift from Duke. They looked up and smiled with relief as Yami walked in the door. Yami grinned back. But then, everyone's faces turned serious as Joey then spoke up.

"Yami, you might want to check this out."

He turned on the TV, and the news came up as they all sat down on the couch to watch. The headline was "Teen Charged with Drunk Driving". A mug shot of the teen Yami had seen earlier was there under the headline.

"Yami, it's that teen who tried to offer you a beer earlier at the party tonight," said Duke, his green eyes full of shock.

"Yes, it is. But more importantly, he made a bad decision and chose to drive while drunk, while I kept my head, stuck to drinking soda and walked home instead of riding in a car with someone if the person was somebody I didn't know very well or if they were drunk," Yami replied, his eyes now serious.

The others nodded in agreement. Because Yami chose to make the right decision, he had saved a life tonight – namely, his own.

**When a friend has drunk too much and wants to drive the car, it's not a pleasant thing. Luckily, there are a few good things you can do in order to prevent a DUI. **

**Take the keys. Call for a cab. Take a stand. **

**Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. **

**Anyway, be sure to read and review, please. Nice feedback is not only encouraging for a writer such as myself, but will also hopefully inspire me to write more. :)**


End file.
